The Germany-based manufacturer of collagen peptides and gelatins has created the new gelatin to allow for the starch-free production of gummies with a sensorial profile previously only been attainable with a starch-based manufacturing process.
The firm says this opens up opportunities for manufacturers to work with different active ingredients, simplify the production process and make considerable cost savings.
Eliminating the starch preparation and gummy drying steps reduces production time from two days to just a few hours, according to the firm, as well as reducing the footprint thanks to the process requiring less space and energy.
Dr. Johanna Schmidgall, Global Head of Application Development at Gelita, points out that this will allow for the manufacture of functional gummies including heat sensitive ingredients like hormones (e.g. melatonin) or probiotics.
“The market for functional and fortified fruit gummies offers exciting growth prospects. Until now, product developers in this space have had their creativity curbed by practical manufacturing limitations. With the introduction of Confixx it is possible to produce gelatin-based gummies with virtually any active ingredient – from collagen peptides to melatonin, vitamins and minerals. We can’t wait to see what new innovations this development will inspire.”
The ingredient can also allow for the production of E-number free products, which is especially interesting in the space of oil-based ingredients such as CBD which would ordinarily rely on emulsifiers or stabilizers.
Schmidgall points out the new product also enables GMP-compliant production of functional and fortified gummies and rules out the risk of cross-contamination through full separation of batches with different active ingredients.
"The simplified process lends itself to production of small batches, with greater flexibility in terms of product changes and tighter control over ingredient dosing.
"This, coupled with the high tolerance of gelatin to formulation changes and the more gentle treatment of ingredients, makes it easy to accommodate a broader range of active ingredients – including difficult to work with and heat-sensitive ingredients. And all this while delivering the chewy, jelly texture that consumers have come to expect from their gummies."
The gummies market
The popularity of fortified gummies has exploded in recent years as consumers eschew conventional pill and capsule-based supplement formats in favour of soft and chewy ‘candyceuticals’.
According to data from Innova Market Insights, gummy supplements accounted for 9.4% of global supplement launches in 2021 – an increase of 70% since 2017, and between 2020 to 2021 alone, the number of gummy supplement launches globally rocketed by 81%.
New product launches of gummy supplements show an impressive growth of 48% from 2021 to 2022 alone and Europe accounts for 25% of the global new product launches of gummy supplements (Innovadatabase: Innova New Products Launches, last accessed: 05.01.2023).